Matthew 18

Rank in the Kingdom

1 aAt that
Lit hour
time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “ cWho then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2And He called a child to Himself and set him among them, 3and said, Truly I say to you, unless you
Lit turn
change and ebecome like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
4 So whoever will humble himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever receives one such child in My name, receives Me; 6 but fwhoever gcauses one of these little ones who believe in Me to
Or stumble, and so throughout the ch
sin, it is better for him that a
Lit millstone turned by a donkey
heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea.

Stumbling Blocks

7 “Woe to the world because of its
I.e., enticements to sin
stumbling blocks! For kit is inevitable that
I.e., enticements to sin
stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person through whom the
I.e., enticements to sin
stumbling block comes!

8 “And nif your hand or your foot is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or without a foot, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And oif your eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into the
Lit Gehenna of fire
,
qfiery hell.

10 “See that you do not look down on one of these little ones; for I say to you that rtheir angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.
Late mss add (traditionally v 11): For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost

Ninety-nine Plus One

11
This verse is empty in this translation.
12 “What do you think? uIf any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains, and go and search for the one that is lost? 13 And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that have not gone astray. 14 So it is not the will
Lit before
of your Father who is in heaven for one of these little ones to perish.

Discipline and Prayer

15 “Now wif your brother sins
Late mss add against you
, go and
Or correct
show him his fault
Lit between you and him alone
in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
16 But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that aaon the
Lit mouth
testimony of two or three witnesses every
Lit word
matter may be confirmed.
17 And if he refuses to listen to them, adtell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, aehe is to be to you as
Lit the
a Gentile and
Lit the
a tax collector.
18 Truly I say to you, ahwhatever you
I.e., forbid
bind on earth
Gr fut. pft. pass. tense
shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you
I.e., permit
loose on earth
Gr fut. pft. pass. tense
shall have been loosed in heaven.

19 “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, amit shall be done for them
Lit from
by My Father who is in heaven.
20 For where two or three have gathered together in My name, aoI am there in their midst.”

Forgiveness

21 Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, aphow many times shall my brother sin against me and I still forgive him? Up to aqseven times?” 22Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to
Or possibly seventy times seven
,
asseventy-seven times.

23 “For this reason atthe kingdom of heaven
Lit has been compared to
is like a king who wanted to avsettle accounts with his slaves.
24 And when he had begun to settle them, one who owed him
By one estimate, a debt of 60 million working days for a laborer
ten thousand talents was brought to him.
25 But since he
Or was unable to
,
aydid not have the means to repay, his master commanded that he azbe sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment be made.
26 So the slave fell to the ground and baprostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ 27 And the master of that slave felt compassion, and he released him and bbforgave him the
Or loan
debt.
28 But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred
The denarius was a day’s wages for a laborer
denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe!’
29 So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ 30 But he was unwilling,
Lit but
and went and threw him in prison until he would pay back what was owed.
31 So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their master all that had happened. 32 Then summoning him, his master *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 bfShould you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ 34 And his master, moved with anger, handed him over to the
I.e., jailors assigned to torture prisoners
torturers until he would repay all that was owed him.
35 bhMy heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your
Lit hearts
heart.”

Copyright information for NASB2020